Violence and the End of a Culture
By Mike Wingfield
Violence is permeating our world at every level of society. The Middle East is spiraling out of control with violence as radical Islam flexes its muscle in an attempt to terrorize the world into submission. Islam’s ultimate goal is to dominate the world and subject it to Allah. Violent attacks against individuals across Europe and around the world are viewed by Muslims as acts of obedience to the Koran’s commands to wage holy war against the infidels. Moderate Muslims are also being targeted who refuse to submit to the ritualistic law of the Koran in their daily lives. At the same time, all cultures are experiencing an escalating violence in their societies. Here in the U.S., our educational institutions have become places of violence. Bullying has become an all too familiar occurrence. Our daily news media are filled with graphic stories involving of murder and violence. We talk about road rage, violence acts against women, children, and infants in the womb. In addition, violence associated with wars has become all-too common for millions living in our world. All the while, our entertainment industries thrive on selling violence. Sports, music, video games, television programming, and movies are filling the minds of consumers with an increasing diet of graphic violence.
Before we turn to the Bible to understand what all of this means, let us listen to the concerns of some in the secular world who are very alarmed by the increase of violence in our culture. The Media Education Foundation [www.mediaed.org] reports the following facts about media violence: “Research indicates that media violence has not just increased in quantity; it has also become more graphic, sexual, and sadistic. By the time the average child is eighteen years old, they will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders. Media violence is especially damaging to young children (under 8) because they cannot easily tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Most of the top-selling video games (89%) contain violent content, almost half of which was of a serious nature. The level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the level of violence during prime time. There are 3-5 violent acts per hour on prime time, versus 20-25 acts per hour on Saturday morning. Nearly 75 percent of violent scenes on television feature no immediate punishment for or condemnation of violence.” (www.mediaed.org)
According to the Bible, when violence permeates a culture it ultimately leads to self-destruction and the judgment of God. For example, a permeation of violence in the culture during Noah’s day led to divine judgment of the entire world. In Genesis 6, the Lord has given us a written indictment on Noah’s generation. The Bible clearly states that the moral climate during Noah’s time provoked God’s holy wrath in the form of a global flood. That society had become morally “corrupt.” (Genesis 6:11-13) A part of that moral corruption was violence. Notice that the Lord repeatedly told Noah: “the earth is filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:11, 13) This simply means that the people of Noah’s age were in love with sensuality and violence. Their minds were continually filled with pornographic and violent images. Note Genesis 6:5: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” They enjoyed it: Immorality and violence no longer produced any shame or guilt in their consciences. They explored it: Searching for more bizarre and sadistic forms of wickedness. They embraced it: Violence became normal, bringing a change in their lifestyle. They proudly exported it: Spreading their sin to engage others in their shame.
Let us examine five Biblical considerations about violence:
1. The Biblical Definition of Violence
After doing research on this subject, I am convinced that very few Christian leaders or believers understand the Biblical view of violence. It is most interesting to observe that the Hebrew word that is translated “violence” in Genesis 6 is “hamas.” Please note that this is the name of the Islamic terrorist group in the Gaza Strip that has been chosen by the Palestinian population to govern them. This Islamic terrorist group wears the badge of Islamic jihad with great pride. They have openly adopted the name VIOLENCE. Their charter openly calls for the complete annihilation of the Jewish population in Israel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River – all of the land of Israel! Everyone in the Middle East knows that Hamas and another radical Islamic element, the Muslim Brotherhood are the same group. They have different names, but they are two different divisions of the same organization. It is their stated purpose to fill the earth with violence to accomplish their agenda of global control for the glory of their God – Allah.
The Hebrew word, “hamas”, means: to bring great harm to people both physically and mentally… to act in a way that is destructive, hateful, lawless, disrespectful, wicked, wild, ruthless, or brutal. Often, these actions are accompanied by loud expressions of hate. Proverbs 10:6 states: “violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.” According to the Bible, violence is an action, gesture, or expression due to the lack of moral restraint. In Amos 3:9-10, the Lord informed Israel that the governments of Ashdod (the Gaza Strip today), Egypt, and “the mountains of Samaria” (the “West Bank” today) “know not to do right” while they “store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” Clearly, the Lord stated that these former and present enemies of Israel are filled with violence against His people because they lack moral restraint.
Violence is an expression of defiance and disrespect for the very basic code of behavior that the Spirit of God wishes to instill in the conscience of mankind. Violence, and its ultimate expression – murder, are the exact opposites of the character and nature of God. (Read 1 John 2:11-16) The Biblical law of God, and specifically the 10 Commandments, are aimed at a reverence for God and respect for human beings who have been created in the image of God. The law of God supports and promotes the very foundation of life. Therefore, violence is the result of a total departure from this law and its author – God! In essence, the culture that espouses violence is in a mode of self-destruction! The testimony of Scripture indicates that murderers and those who commit acts of violence against human beings are acting like Satan, not God! In John 8:44, Jesus called Satan “a murderer from the beginning.” In Revelation 9:11, Satan is called “Abaddon” (Hebrew for “destroyer”), and “Apollyon” (Greek for “destroyer”).
2. The Cultural Impact of Violence
From the very beginning, God instructed Israel that violence and murder defile a culture. Read Numbers 35:29-34. In response to willful murder, God demanded capital punishment. In verse 31 God said: “Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.”
When expressions of violence are allowed to permeate a culture, they will create a society that is void of a godly conscience, leading to increasing levels of wickedness, lawlessness, sensuality, and brutality. When a society travels down the path of depravity and rebellion from God, they will suppress “the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18) This will lead to “their foolish [conscience being] darkened.” (Romans 1:21) Eventually, they are “filled with …. murder” and many other forms of violence and wickedness. (Romans 1:29 -32)
3. The Divine Judgment due to the Permeation of Violence in a Culture
A study of the Bible and human history will demonstrate that cultures filled with violence come to an end. That is because violence brings a lack of fear or respect for God. This is visually manifested in their lack of respect for man, who has been created in the image of God. The Bible consistently teaches that our love and respect for God is clearly illustrated by how we treat others. (Exodus 20:117; Matthew 22:34-40; 1 John 4:20-21) While commenting on Genesis 6:11, Matthew Henry, a godly leader and author of a well-known Bible commentary a few generations ago, wrote: “Take away conscience and the fear of God, and men become beasts and devils to one another, like fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less. Sin fills the earth with violence, and so turns the world into a wilderness, into a cock-pit.”
When a culture reaches this spiritual point of no return, the Spirit of God can no longer “strive with man.” (Genesis 6:3) As a result, God’s holiness demands that He destroy that culture in divine judgment. It has happened several times in human history and it will happen once again. The global violence today, as in the days of Noah, is demanding the divine judgment of God. That global judgment will take place on a global scale during the seven-year tribulation period.
4. The Violence at the End of this Age
After the restraining influence on sin through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church has been removed at the Rapture, the world will erupt into a cycle of violence and murder that is unprecedented in the history of man. This violence will be aimed at Israel, the Jewish people (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:6, 13-17) and believers in Jesus Christ. (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 6:9-11; 13:7; 17:6; 20:4) Leading the violence will be the religion of Islam (pictured as the harlot in Revelation 17-18), and the Islamic Antichrist and his false prophet. (Revelation 13:15) Early in the Tribulation Period, the Antichrist will engage in a global jihad “to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another.” (Revelation 6:4) The opening months of the Tribulation will feature a bloody war of jihad that will result in the death of one-fourth of the world’s population. (Revelation 6:8)
At this very hour, violence and death are being waged by Muslims against the Christian populations in Syria, Egypt and throughout the Middle East. It is a powerful witness to what is coming in the immediate future. If the West does not act against these radical Islamic elements to stop the killing of innocent Christians, this war will spread to Europe and the United States. It is only a matter of time before this happens. The free world was standing in a similar place only 73 years ago when Hitler was brutally murdering Jews and taking control of the countries of Europe. Humanly speaking, if the free world does not respond, the forces of evil will multiply and violence will fill the earth. Only the Lord knows what course the world will take in the next few months and years. With America and Europe being swept into socialism, it appears that they will not rise to the occasion. They fail to heed the lessons from World War II only two generations ago.
My father and father-in-law fought in World War II. am very thankful for the sacrifice they and millions of others made to protect our freedom from Nazi and Japanese tyranny. They willingly made these sacrifices because our American leadership recognized the need to deal with critical threats to our faith and freedom. However, today, many in our leadership not only lack the resolve to do something about this threat, but are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, the perpetrator of the growing violence in the Middle East and around the world. Can you image what would have happened during World War II if the United States had sided with the Nazis? Yet, that is what is occurring at this very hour. America is standing in the wrong place in the war against evil. Most tragically, we are not standing on moral high ground with God. America has morally collapsed. It is shocking to think of what has happened to our blessed country in the last 70 years.
May God have mercy on America!
5. Biblical Admonitions Concerning Violence
The message of the Bible is very clear – God hates violence. When violence flows out of the human heart to harm or kill human beings for selfish gain or hatred, it arouses the anger of God. It must be understood that there is a righteous anger or indignation that flows out of the very holy character of God. Finally, after being patient for thousands of years with the violence of the wicked, Jesus will systematically deliver His holy wrath against the sinful masses through massive global judgments for seven years. At the end of the Tribulation Period, Jesus will visibly and bodily return to this earth and speak a word of holy judgment and death against the armies of the world gathered against Him and Israel at Armageddon. Revelation 19:15 says He will “smite the nations… and tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” At the end of this battle, the Lord will invite the birds of prey to feast on the corpses of the thousands who will have fallen on the mountains of Israel. (Revelation 19:1718)
Sometimes, war and violence must be waged against the wicked who are murdering others. God demands this of human governments! (Read Genesis 9:6; Numbers 35:29-34; Romans 13:1-4) For example, God used the nation of Israel to carry out His righteous judgment against the wicked and murderers of Canaan. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14) The Lord will use the nation of Israel in the last days to destroy the nations that are killing His people. (Jeremiah 51:19-23)
Psalm 11:5 states that the Lord hates those who “love violence.” During the millennium, the Lord will directly exercise His divine sovereignty over the nations of the world. He will not permit any violence or war! Isaiah 2:4 declares: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” The war-torn Middle East, which has been ravaged with violence since the days of Abraham, will finally become a place of peace. Those who will be saved out of the former Arab/Islamic nations in the Middle East and survive the Tribulation will be spiritually transformed. They will no longer hate Israel, but will confess that the Jewish people are the people of God, and will bless those they have hated for generations. (Isaiah 60:6-19) Please notice Isaiah 60:14: “The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee , The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel” Because of this heart change among the Arab nations, the Lord has joyfully declared to Israel: “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land.” (Isaiah 60:18) Finally, true peace will come upon the cities of Israel. The great prophet of God, Isaiah, wrote about this: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)
As individual children of God we should be known as peace makers, not troublemakers. Jesus declared: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) The Scriptures exhort the individual believer: “[Return] to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:17-19)
As believers, we must protect our consciences by refraining from viewing or listening to violent expressions of any kind. We must not permit violence to enter our homes or minds with any level of acceptance or pleasure! We must guard our ears and eyes from any kind of violence that can desensitize our conscience. (Proverbs 4:23-27) We must fill our minds with Scripture and God’s way of peace. The Bible demands: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14) We are exhorted to let grace and peace be multiplied in our hearts. When the Apostle Peter began his final epistle, he began with the exhortation: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2) When we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be persons of peace. Read Galatians 5:22-23.
As violence escalates around the world and especially in the Middle East, we need to remember that Jesus taught that evil thoughts and murder come out of the human heart. (Matthew 15:19) The only real answer to the violence in our world is in the person of Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace. After He judges the nations with His holy wrath, He will establish His kingdom of peace. That peace will be maintained by the firm hand of our Lord as He rules the nations “with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 12:5) Also, the fear of the Lord will permeate the nations because “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14) That is why He has instructed us to pray: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) Come, Lord Jesus. We need you more than ever before!
Descending into Darkness
According to the prophetic Word of God, the world will descend into one of the darkest periods of human history before King Jesus returns to establish His kingdom. Contrasting the spiritual light that will dawn upon this earth at the beginning of our Lord’s kingdom with the spiritual darkness that will precede it, the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee [Israel], and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1-2)
From a human perspective it appears that mankind is falling into the dark, deep pit of depravity that will engulf the wicked during the Tribulation Period. The world is in a moral, spiritual, and economic free-fall. The nations are embracing Islam, worshipping Allah. At the same time, Christians are being killed and persecuted, and many hate the name of “Jesus.” Violence is permeating the global culture, and the threat of war in the Middle East seems to increase with each passing day.
It is not an accident that the Middle East is going through a major shift in the political/religious power-structure that controls the region. Israel finds itself surrounded by nations where national sovereignties are breaking down and radical elements of global Islamic jihad are taking control.
Egypt, the largest Arab/Islamic country in the Middle East, is descending into a very dangerous cycle of violence as moderate Muslims attempt to regain control of their country from the radical elements who were in control. The radicals have seized the moment to attack the Christian community, claiming that they were responsible for the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi’s presidency, a prominent leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Christians are being brutally attacked and killed. More than 60 churches have been destroyed by those who are supporters of the radical Muslim movement in Egypt. The outcome of this struggle for power in Egypt will be very critical to the future of the entire Middle East.
The two-year old war in Syria has claimed over 100,000 lives, many of whom were Christians killed by the radical Islamic rebels that are attempting to take control of Syria. The world has learned that the Syrian government used chemical weapons to kill thousands of its own people. Consequently, the world is about to topple the Assad regime to allow the rebels to take control of Syria. Several radical factions are fighting on the side of the rebel forces. The two major factions are the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda. So, the West, including the U.S., is arming Al Qaeda in the attempt to overthrow Assad. Isn’t it odd that the very same Islamic group we have attempted to destroy for several years in Afghanistan, we are now supporting in Syria?
It should be alarming for people when they realize that the Western powers are involved in turning the Middle East over to the very radical Islamic groups that have declared jihad against the West. This is very dangerous for Israel, the U.S., and the entire free world. There appears to be only two logical explanations for the West’s support of these radical jihadist groups. These governments must be operating in total moral and intellectual darkness, having been deceived by these groups. Or, they are joining hands with evil to enhance and promote their own agendas. It is my opinion that it is the later of these two explanations.
It is possible that if the Lord does not come first, we will witness the beginning of a New World Order that will feature a political marriage between socialism and Islam. An examination of the current working system within the United Nations will reveal that this is already becoming a reality. The political marriage will be very bad for believers in Jesus Christ and all Jews, and especially the nation of Israel.
According to several sources, Israel realizes that it is only a matter of time before these Islamic forces will join together to attack the Jewish state. Israeli Lt.-Col. Jackie Ben-Yakar recently stated: “Our working assumption is an attack will happen. It’s only a matter of time. We are preparing for hostile action, we’re preparing the forces, training them, and keeping up their operational readiness.”
(The International Jerusalem Post, August 2-8, 2013, p. 12) It is my opinion that this war will set the stage for the one mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39.
As the world descends into this time of great deception and spiritual darkness, we need to remember the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. Please take time to read this Scripture. It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to awake out of its apathy and prepare for our departure. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Romans 13:11)
A War against Christianity
In a recent article by Michael Snyder, “The Name Of Jesus Has Become A Dirty Word In Politically Correct America,” he warns that a real war on Christianity is unfolding in America. He gives the following examples:
“Evidence of this war on Christianity is everywhere these days. The following are just a few examples…
-An elementary school in North Carolina ordered a little six-year-old girl to remove the word “God” from a poem that she wrote to honor her two grandfathers that had served in the Vietnam War.
-The Ohio Statehouse banned Christian pastors from using the name of Jesus when they open up the daily sessions with prayer.
-The use of the name of Jesus was also forbidden in all prayers opening sessions of the North Carolina State-House.
-Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that prayers before commission meetings in Forsyth County, North Carolina that included the name of Jesus were unconstitutional.
-Earlier this year, a Florida Atlantic University student that refused to stomp on the name of Jesus was banned from class.
-A student at Sonoma State University was ordered to take off a cross that she was wearing because someone “could be offended”.
-A teacher in New Jersey was fired for giving his own Bible to a student that did not own one.
-An open air preacher in Illinois was recently threatened with arrest for “scaring people” with the message of the gospel.
-Volunteer chaplains for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department have been banned from using the name of Jesus in their public prayers. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Chaplains all over the nation are now being banned from using the name of Jesus.
A recently released 140 page report entitled “The Survey of Religious Hostility in America” included some more examples of how Christianity is being systematically oppressed in America today…
A federal judge threatened ‘incarceration’ to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech.
City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center.
A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church.
A public university’s law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with.
The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the men
tion of God from veterans’ funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased’s families.
A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.” (www.theendoftheamericandream.com, July 25, 2013)
We live in the presence of God. Where ever we go, He is there. As believers, He is with us and in us. Do you acknowledge His presence? Proverbs 3:6